Photo: M.O. Stevens · Public domainDurham has 3.0 jobs for every working resident: 2,593 people commute in to work
There are 2,601 jobs in Durham, and 866 of its residents work somewhere. Durham grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Home is the office for 28% of workers, where Oregon as a whole has 19%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Durham: the gist
Durham has far more jobs than workers
Durham has 2,601 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,600 people are in town, 91% more than the 1,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Durham and Portland trade workers both ways
Portland is the top workplace for Durham residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Durham come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Durham residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 866 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Durham’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Durham is better than 65% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Durham’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.5%) is left out: Durham’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Durham could be anywhere from C to A.
The daily commute in and out of Durham
On a workday 858 residents head out to work and 8 work right here.
About 3,600 people are in Durham on a workday afternoon, 91% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Durham, and from where
Where Durham clocks in
16% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Miles to work from Durham
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
67% of the jobs in Durham pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Durham, 2013 → 2023: 1,863 → 2,601. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Durham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Durham, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Durham workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 712 commuters (the 28% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Durham is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 984 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 58% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.7% of Durham households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Durham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Durham comes 1,514th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Dunthorpe OR | 1,875 | $250K | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Boring OR | 1,869 | $159K | 3.8% | 6.0% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 251 | Stafford OR | 1,600 | $163K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,512 | Westford WI | 1,312 | $93K | 7.1% | 3.3% | <1% | B |
| 1,513 | Laporte CO | 1,771 | $87K | 10.6% | 2.1% | 4% | B |
| 1,514 | Durham OR | 1,904 | $81K | 13.9% | 1.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,515 | Butler Township IN | 1,759 | $81K | 13.2% | 1.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,516 | Loudon Township OH | 2,188 | $83K | 8.3% | 2.2% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Durham, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
The towns next door employ 25% of Durham
The biggest share goes to Tualatin (16%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Durham’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Durham: questions
What is the median household income in Durham?
$81,250 (±$27,544) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Durham?
13.9%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Durham?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Durham work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (25%, 11 mi), Tualatin (16%, 2 mi), Tigard (9%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Durham walkable?
Durham is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Durham without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 58% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Durham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Durham
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.